The city of Boulder is considering what its energy future will look like. The goal it to acquire "clean, local and reliable" energy in the future, and one voter-approved option is to start a municipal utility. For more information on the history of this decision, click here.

Longmont officials say city will need 'months to years of recovery'

Water supply limited; Greenway, pool destroyed; bridges lost

LONGMONT -- City officials on Monday night laid out the scope of destruction left from one end of town to the other by the flood of 2013.

"For us, this is going to be months to years of recovery," Dale Rademacher, director of public works and natural resources, said at the State of the City Address at the Civic Center.

Rademacher noted that in the larger, regional context, Longmont had fared better than, for example, its neighbor to the west, Lyons. But Longmont was hardly left unscathed by this natural disaster.

"The National Weather Service has said that this was a rainfall of biblical proportions, and it really was," said city manager Harold Dominguez, addressing about 75 members of the public and a large contingent of city staffers who came to the meeting.

City of Longmont emergency manager Dan Eamon speaks during the State of the City address Monday evening in the City Council chambers.
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LEWIS GEYER
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The daylong rainstorm that began Wednesday had by that night turned into a dangerous situation.

By 2:30 a.m. the city had activated its Emergency Operations Center, and by 11 a.m. Thursday, Dominguez had issued an emergency declaration for the city.

The good news is, as fast as conditions turned from bad to deadly, there have been no deaths or serious injuries in Longmont related to the flood.

The question is where to start with the bad news, but perhaps water is the appropriate place, since that's what caused all of this devastation.

"The good news is we did a lot of planning," said Dan Eamon, the city's emergency manager, referring to the Lykins Gulch and Left Hand Creek projects, the latter of which was just finished this spring. Had it not been for those projects, the damage to neighborhoods would have been much greater.

But the damage was still plenty bad, particularly in parts of Southmoor Park, near Left Hand Creek, and especially the neighborhoods just east of Airport Road between Ninth and Mountain View avenues. The damage there was something the city didn't foresee, Eamon said.

"The bad news is the river didn't follow the 100- and 500-year flood plan," Eamon said. Those neighborhoods -- The Greens, Champion Greens and the Valley -- shouldn't have been in the path of the water at all.

Longmont resident Kristin McDonald and her dog Sakari quickly evacuate their home in Longmont after a notice from the city that conditions up stream had changed on Sunday, Sept. 15. (Matthew Jonas/Times-Call)
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Matthew Jonas
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"As it was leaving Lyons and it was moving through, it was out of its banks," Dominguez said. "We began to see that what we had was two rivers flowing into Longmont."

Once the water jumped the St. Vrain's banks to the north, near 75th Street in Hygiene, it continued west along the rail line and washed out a bunch of gravel pit ponds, adding even more water. That's the deluge that crossed Airport Road and ended up in those neighborhoods.

In all, 7,000 households in the city, along with an unknown number of businesses, were evacuated. Longmont Police Cmdr. Jeff Satur said it was still too early to tell how many homes and businesses had been destroyed.

Gabe Anderson, left, Mark Swanson, top, Stefani Anderson, and Savana Anderson, work as a family to clean the mud out of their yard on Lefthand Drive in Longmont Colorado on September 14, 2013.
Cliff Grassmick/Times-Call
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CLIFF GRASSMICK
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Longmont's drinking water has been fine since the flooding began, Rademacher said, but repairing the damage to the city's supply is a short-term priority. He said Button Rock Dam, above Lyons, has been holding up, but the water in Ralph Price Reservoir is "chocolately brown" because of all the silt. The water inside Longmont Reservoir, which is just below the dam, is the same way, Rademacher said. Until those problems are fixed, the city can't pull drinking water from the St. Vrain River -- it has to pull it all from its Carter Lake pipeline, which carries water from the Western Slope.

"The St. Vrain represents two-thirds of the city's water supply, so we're down to one-third," Rademacher said.

Compounding the problem is that the road to Button Rock is inaccessible. The only way up there is by helicopter or four-wheel-drive over Hall Ranch open space.

He asked that every residence and business in the city forgo outdoor watering for the foreseeable future.

The city's wastewater treatment plant had to be shut down temporarily when water first flooded it, but city crews were able to bring it back online within 48 hours, which Dominguez said was an amazing feat.

But one other major water-related problem won't have its effects felt until next year, Rademacher said.

"Every irrigation ditch diversion along the St. Vrain is destroyed," he said, meaning that farmers that rely on that water to the north and east of Longmont won't be able to get any of it next year.

Two major north-south roads, Sunset Street within the city and County Line Road east of town, have bridges that are washed out and will have to be completely rebuilt. Other roads will need major repair.

Some businesses in the Boston Avenue industrial areas suffered major damage, and repairs to the roads in that area will be a priority, officials said.

And then there is the city's park system.

"The St. Vrain Greenway is gone, and I stress that people should please stay away from that area. It's very dangerous," Rademacher said, adding that the pool at Kanemoto Park is destroyed, and Sandstone and Left Hand Creek parks also suffered severe damages.

In fact, any park that was near any of the affected areas suffered some damage, he said.

In his opening remarks, Mayor Dennis Coombs thanked Gov. John Hickenlooper for visiting Longmont on Monday and promising any help that the state could provide. The region is also getting assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Boulder County has already been extremely helpful, Rademacher said, particularly in allowing a diversion ditch to be cut on open space property that helped get the St. Vrain River back into its banks and out of neighborhoods.

Ballot language:
In November, Boulder voters narrowly approved two ballot issues related to starting a municipal utility: 2B and 2C. You can read the full text of the ballot language on the city's website.

Issue 2B asked voters to increase the existing utility occupation tax by up to $1.9 million a year. The money from the tax, which will be collected from customers by Xcel Energy, will be used by the city to cover the costs of moving forward with forming a municipal utility, such as more studies and legal fees.

Issue 2C asked voters for permission to actually form a municipal utility. The language allows the city to sell the necessary bonds to take over the current system from Xcel, but it states that the city may only move forward with forming a municipal utility if it can start the utility with rates that are the same or cheaper than Xcel's.

Helpful Links:City of Boulder: This is where the city is aggregating all of its documents, meeting information and updates on Boulder s energy future: bouldercolorado.gov/energyfuture

RenewablesYes: This website is run by the group of volunteers that lobbied local voters to pass a utility occupation tax in November to replace the expiring franchise fee from Xcel Energy. Now, the group is advocating for the city to secure a cleaner, more local energy supply. renewablesyes.org

Xcel Energy: Xcel is the largest utility in Colorado, and it currently provides electricity to Boulder. The city s 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel expired at the end of 2010. xcelenergy.com

Boulder Smart Energy Coalition: A citizen group that supports the city's general energy goals but has concerns about the risks involved with starting a municipal utility. bouldersec.com

SmartGridCity: Xcel Energy has installed a smart grid in Boulder. This web site provides more information on that initiative. smartgridcity.xcelenergy.com

Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities: This Colorado Springs-based group represents the state s 29 municipal utilities, which include utilities based in Lyons and Longmont. coloradopublicpower.org